Hold Congress Accountable

Knowledge is power. It makes sure people understand what is happening to their country, and how they can make a difference. FreedomWorks University will give you the tools to understand economics, the workings of government, the history of the American legal system, and the most important debates facing our nation today. Enroll in FreedomWorks University today!

Search FreedomWorks

Resources

Blog

Obama's Ridiculous Plan For Higher Education

In this month's State of the Union Address the president put forth a plan to make college tuition more affordable. The proposal was met with praise in most quarters on the left, but surprisingly little attention from the right.

The only explanation I can think of for this involves political demographics. With student loan debt surpassing credit card debt before recently reaching $1 trillion, the nation’s students are understandably desirous of lowered tuition. Sifting through the comments sections of news articles it’s not uncommon for me to see people say things like “It is morally wrong to force college students into debt without the possibility of paying it back.” Such rhetoric worries Republicans who in the aftermath of 2012 are primarily concerned with broadening their appeal.

Republicans have been treading lightly over the issue of government subsidized student loans, wary of disenfranchising the coming generation of younger voters. This was obvious in the way Gov. Romney handled such questions in the debates last fall.

A clear expression of why government involvement in student aid is harmful has not been articulated on a national scale. Republican politicians meekly claim to be against expanding Pell Grants but find themselves unprepared to respond to attacks from the left, attacks labeling them as hostile to promoting widespread higher education.

Instead of futilely attempting to refute such claims it would be wiser to assert that widespread college education is exactly what’s wrong with our higher education system.

That’s right.

The progressive flaw in understanding was revealed by the following asinine statement from the president.

“The more education you've got, the more likely you are to have a good job and work your way into the middle class,” Obama said.

Yeah, actually no.

48% of college graduates are currently working jobs that don’t require degrees.

It's the nature of our economy that progressives fail to grasp. College degrees were once valuable because they signified that the degree holder possessed a rare and specific skillset. When everyone has a four-year degree employers will look for other qualifications to identify the people they need.

Our unhealthy focus on getting a “college degree” has meant that young adults who are in no financial or academic position to attend college feel the need to do so. In short, getting a four-year degree is not a right and might even be against your interests.

The myth that success is guaranteed to individuals with a four-degree has been the motivating factor behind the drastic rise in college enrollment over the last few decades. Parents have bought into the notion that their children’s success is dependent on a Bachelor’s degree. This means many high school graduates feel pressured into college. Most never even consider vocational school which would leave them debt free and almost guaranteed a decent job.

The government’s actions over the last 70 years have helped with this problem. Pell grants and the GI Bill were introduced to make college more affordable and available to the wider population. As college enrollment increased the worth of a college degree declined. And as the government increasingly subsidized college education universities felt comfortable raising their tuition.

In his speech Obama laid out a proposal to withhold federal funds from universities which fail to lower their tuition rates to the government’s satisfaction. He said institutions of higher education need to discover innovative ways to keep costs down. This is ironic because it is the Democrats who for years have called for fixing education with increased funding.

This doesn’t mean the left is any less in favor of publicly funded higher education.

Often you will hear progressives advocate a free tuition system like that in Germany. The German’s however are smart enough to recognize that not everyone is suited for college. German children are tested before secondary school and separated into either a Gymnasium or a Hauptschule. The first prepares students for college while the latter prepares them for vocational school.

Such a system would be strongly opposed in America, but the German model is the only way a nation can hope to subsidize higher education with any degree of competence. If Americans are unwilling to follow that path then it would be best to withdraw all federal funds subsidizing college loans and universities.

es advocate a free tuition system like that in Germany. The German’s however are smart enough to recognize that not everyone is suited for college. German children are tested before secondary school and separated either to a Gymnasium or a Hauptschule. The first prepares students for college while t

On June 29 President Obama published a blog on Huffington Post announcing his “plan to extend overtime protections to nearly 5 million workers in 2016, covering all salaried workers making up to about $50,400 next year.”

This month the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the Higher Education Act, which was originally passed in 1965. The primary topic for the duration of the two hour hearing was the collection and dissemination of data from colleges and universities.

Much of the Bill of Rights is dedicated to protecting accused persons, an action integral to our society. Expanding upon the Sixth Amendment’s granted right to legal counsel, states have put legislation in place that strictly dictates who can practice law. While such regulations aim to protect citizens, they have adverse effects and actually abridge the freedoms we hold dear.

It’s no big surprise that I wasn’t a fan of President Obama’s State of the Union address last night. As expected, it was full of bad ideas and logical fallacies. I could go through his entire speech and point out where he’s wrong but many like-minded commentators already have. Instead, I want to focus on what I realistically wish Obama would have said.

Being tasked with a response to the State of the Union address isn't easy. The message, usually given by a fresh face, is carefully crafted to fluff up a party's priorities for the coming months, as well as offer Americans a distinction between their agenda and what the president offered them earlier in the evening.

President Barack Obama delivered his sixth State of the Union address to Congress last night, laying out a litany of mostly terrible policy proposals, as well as attempting to defend his economic record. There's no denying that he's a strong orator who tells a story very well, but the substance of the speech itself was more of the same stale ideas and poor leadership that Americans have seen throughout the course of his presidency. Though there are plenty of policy items worthy of analysis, here are some lines that stuck out.

As we prepare for yet another State of the Union address filled with promises and pledges to the American people, the folks over a Grabien have pieced together a nearly 13-minute montage of the 112 promises that President Barack Obama made in his previous addresses to joint sessions of Congress but never kept.

President Barack Obama has tipped his hand on how he plans to pay for his budget-busting spending increases. Media reports indicate that he plans to roll out several tax hikes totalling $320 billion in his State of the Union address on Tuesday, including raising the capital gains rate and imposing a tax on big banks' liabilities.

Democracy and Power 103: Government Money
The money taxed and spent by the politicians comes from the labor and ingenuity of millions of working persons. Politicians spend other peoples’ money. The politician transfers money from productive people to favored special interest groups.

Washington, DC- Following news that the Obama administration refused to release documents that could prove the IRS shared taxpayer returns with the White House, FreedomWorks President Matt Kibbe released the following statement: